Crewe suffer Capital One Cup defeat

Crewe were dumped out of the Capital One Cup in the first round after a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Bury on Tuesday night.

The Alex's defence proved to be their downfall as they conceded three for the second time in four days.

The three previous League Cup games between the two sides at Gigg Lane have produced 12 goals and that goalscoring tradition continued in rich vein.

Steve Davis made only one change to the side that threw away three points in their Sky Bet League One opening game. Winger Byron Moore was ruled out with a groin injury and so Arsenal loanee Chuks Aneke replaced him, starting behind AJ Leitch-Smith whilst Max Clayton operated on the left.

Similarly to their game against Rotherham last Saturday, the Railwaymen got off to a wonderful start by gaining the lead within five minutes. Aneke was the scorer, Leitch-Smith's low cross found the feet of the 20-year-old who calmly sent his shot off the underside of the bar and into the roof of the net.

The 339 away fans were delighted to see their side open the scoring and they could have doubled their lead after just seven minutes. Aneke had another sight of the Bury goal from the edge of the penalty area but his shot was blocked by Richard Hinds.

Kelvin Mellor did fantastically well to provide a cross into the box and an alert Ryan Colclough stuck out a boot but the teenager's poked effort skimmed past the left hand post.

Crewe continuted to dominate the early proceedings but failed to build on their lead.

The Alex then fell victim to another set-piece on the 20th minute as Shaun Beeley levelled with a fine long-range volley when the visitors failed to clear a corner. The ball dropped perfectly and Bury took advantage of Crewe's nerves as a 25-yard strike beat keeper Alan Martin.

The Shakers kept hold of the initiative after their equaliser, an attempt to counter attack saw Colclough running into a dead end. He then opted to pass back to Anthony Grant but his poor pass only found Richard Hinds inside our own penalty area.

In an attempt to recover, Grant cut across the defender and the referee subsequently pointed to the spot. Grant was cautioned for pulling Hinds back and Shaun Harrad converted home the following penalty kick.

The League Two outfit had now gained control over the game and began to create more and more chances. Another long throw-in caused chaos inside the Crewe box and after the ball worked its way to the back post, Craig Jones skied a shot just over the crossbar.

Ashley Grimes then tried to catch Martin out with a speculative effort from distance after his shot from 25 yards had the Scottish keeper scrambling across his line.

Bury made the game 3-1 just minutes after the break. A corner from Jones was knocked back across goal by Proctor and there was Hinds in enough space to poke the ball past Martin. Crewe's chances were rapidly dwindling.

The Railwaymen then rallied and began to fight back. Crewe were enjoying the better of the possession but not creating too many clear-cut chances so in the 65th minute, Steve Davis opted for some changes. Vadaine Oliver replaced AJ Leitch-Smith whilst Ollie Turton also came on for Anthony Grant.

Crewe slightly dominated the game, with 51 per cent possession but their erratic shooting was cause for concern. From eight shots, only two were on target. Ironically those two were both goals but Crewe's offensive problems could be providing some headaches for their boss.

Crewe grabbed a lifeline on 73 minutes when captain Abdul Osman fed Aneke who released Ryan Colclough through on goal. He beat Lainton to the pass and was sent flying into the air to earn the spot kick. Harry Davis confidently made it 3-2 from 12 yards to set up an exciting last 15 minutes.

Chuks Aneke blazed the Alex's best chance of a leveller over the bar. After some impressive approach play, Clayton found Aneke in the penalty box but unfortunately he could not keep his shot down. Bury saw out their lead and progressed to the 2nd round.

Ultimately, Chuks Aneke's performance in which he scored and earned an assist was not enough for the Railwaymen and their cup run was cut short by the Shakers.

Crewe have alternated between winning and losing their last nine first-round matches in the League Cup. That run continued at Gigg Lane and Davis will be looking for improvements after an unsatisfactory start to the season.

"I thought that we would be going to win comfortably after the first 15 minutes or so because we scored and created two or three decent chances. It could have been wrapped up but our ill discipline has cost us. We didn't deal with the second phase and mark properly again. We know what the problems are and we will work on it.

"We have gifted them a penalty and from then on it has changed the game. We struggled for the last 10 minutes of the second half but got in at half-time and thought we would sort things out, but then we have come out and conceded a tap in from a corner because we didn't mark properly. We worked all week on the second phases of play and we have been done on it again.

"We have to mark better, anticipate better and deal with situations better. It is hard to find positives but we made a good start and had a go in the second half but we have conceded six goals in two goals, five of them from set plays and that is concern."

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DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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